American Crystal Sugar Company celebrates 100 years of sugarbeet processing in East Grand Forks
East Grand Forks factory marks 100th campaign a century after opening in 1926
MOORHEAD, MINN. (October 6, 2026) — American Crystal Sugar Company is marking 100 years of sugarbeet processing at its East Grand Forks factory. On this date in 1926, the factory initiated its first sugarbeet processing campaign for the American Beet Sugar Company.
The company’s rich sugarbeet history began with 10,000 acres harvested and average yields of 7.6 tons per acre. Last year’s record crop averaged yields of 33.7 tons per acre. The first loads of sugarbeets for this season were delivered in August, marking the start of the factory’s 100th processing campaign.
“With 500 employees, this factory sliced 1,100 tons per day and produced a total of 20 million pounds of sugar with the first harvest in 1926,” stated Zach Olson, factory manager at the East Grand Forks location. Olson reflected on a century of factory expansions and modernizations, and said, “The original structure is unrecognizable. Now, we have 350 employees, we can slice more than 10,000 tons a day, and every day we can produce 3 million pounds of sugar.”
Zach Olson shares a look back with the factory's "wall of history" as the East Grand Forks location recognizes its 100-year anniversary of sugarbeet processing in the Red River Valley.
Eight years after opening, the company changed its name to American Crystal Sugar Company. Later, in 1973, its growers purchased the company and turned it into one of the country’s first grower-owned cooperatives, giving themselves a direct stake in its success.
“Reaching 100 years in East Grand Forks is an accomplishment we can all take pride in,” said Tom Astrup, president and CEO of American Crystal Sugar Company. “Generations of growers and employees made this factory what it is. Our job is to continue to build on what they started.”
Advances in sugarbeet varieties, farming practices, equipment, processing technology, and storage have changed how growers and employees grow, harvest, store, and process the crop. American Crystal is now the largest beet sugar producer in the United States.
